David Robertson

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For other persons named David Robertson, see David Robertson (disambiguation).

David Robertson [1] (born 19 July 1958 in Santa Monica, California, U.S.) is an American conductor, whose parents were a research scientist and a baker.[1] He grew up in California, and later studied horn, composition, and conducting as a college student at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

In 1985, David Robertson was appointed resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Five years later, in October 1990, the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris named Music Director. Although his appointment was initially newsworthy because Robertson was not a protégé of Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble benefited from his leadership decade of leadership by performing more works of 'non-Boulezian' composers, such as John Adams, and by reinvigorating the Ensemble.

In 2000, Robertson was named the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) and Artistic Director of Lyon's Auditorium, He was the first individual to serve simultaneously in both capacities and the first American conductor to be appointed to either position. He and the ONL toured the United States in 2003, with concerts in New York City[2], Seattle, Berkeley[3], and Los Angeles. He concluded his tenure in Lyon in 2004.

David Robertson's relationship with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) began in January 1999 when he made his first conducting appearance with the orchestra. [4] Robertson's second appearance with the SLSO occurred in February 2002 at Carnegie Hall after the SLSO's then-music director Hans Vonk withdrew a few days before the concert due to health problems. Robertson agreed to substitute, and he and the orchestra had only one rehearsal before the concert, which received a favorable review from the New York Times[5]. He later appeared with the SLSO in March 2003, and the SLSO named Robertson its next Music Director in December 2003, effective with the 2005-2006 season.

In April 2005, Robertson led the SLSO for the second time in a Carnegie Hall concert 2005[6], after a labor dispute at the SLSO was resolved. Subsequent Carnegie Hall concerts with Robertson conducting the SLSO since the start of his SLSO tenure have been in November 2005[7], March and April 2006[8], and March 2007[9]. Robertson was one of Carnegie Hall's Perspectives artists for the 2005-2006 season, and he curated concerts with the SLSO and other performances with various guest artists and ensembles. He and the SLSO are scheduled to return to Carnegie Hall in February 2008.

Robertson is generally regarded as having restored the SLSO's artistic prominence after the premature resignation of the prior music director, Hans Vonk, and the labor dispute at the orchestra in the winter of 2005.[10] New concert series begun during his tenure are a group of contemporary music concerts with The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and a series of "Fusion Concerts" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center of the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

In February 2005, Robertson was named the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra [11] and assumed that post later in the year, in parallel with the beginning of his St. Louis tenure. In September 2006, the SLSO announced that Robertson extended his SLSO contract through 2010, with an evergreen clause to allow for yearly renewal. Robertson has also extended his Principal Guest Conductorship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra through 2011. Speculation had been intense, as reported by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune, Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times, and Daniel Wakin of the New York Times that both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic were both trying to sign Robertson, respectively, as the next music director of each orchestra.[12] The SLSO action ended the discussion relating to the Chicago position, at least through 2010[13], although there still has been some press speculation that the New York Philharmonic is still considering signing Robertson as its next music director[14] [15]. Robertson continues to be a regular guest conductor with other major American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. In particular, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times has been laudatory of Robertson's concerts with the New York Philharmonic[16].

In addition to his work in contemporary and symphonic music, Robertson is also much admired and sought-after as a conductor of opera, such as his opening of the Rossini Festival in the composer's hometown of Pesaro, Italy in summer 1994. He conducted a production of Janacek's Věc Makropulos at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1996 which featured Jessye Norman. Robertson is scheduled to return to the Met in the 2007-2008 season to conduct performances of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

Robertson received the 2006 Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University for his championing of American music. Robertson has recorded for the harmonia mundi, Sony Classical, and Naxos labels music of composers such as Bartók, Dvorák, Valentin Silvestrov, and Philippe Manoury.

Robertson has a loft in downtown St. Louis, and also has residences in New York City and Paris. His two teenage sons from his second marriage, Peter and Jonathan (11th and 8th grades, respectively, in 2006-2007), attend Horace Mann School. Robertson is currently married to his third wife, pianist Orli Shaham[17]. Robertson and Shaham first met at that January 1999 SLSO concert, where she was the guest pianist, and which also was her own SLSO debut. They married in January 2003.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Porter Anderson, "David Robertson: Career chromatics". CNN.com, 25 April 2001.
  2. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "For Adventure, Try Boulez and Stay Till the End". New York Times, 27 January 2003.
  3. ^ George Thomson, "Newer Music, Old Europe". San Francisco Classical Voice, 31 January 2003.
  4. ^ The date of their first rehearsal was 20 January 1999. See Sarah Bryan Miller, "Risky program works beautifully for Symphony". St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 22 January 2007.
  5. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "Music Review: Sly Wit for a Modernist, Clarity for Impressionists". New York Times, 11 February 2002.
  6. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "Labor Bitterness Plays Second Fiddle to Artistry". New York Times, 18 April 2005.
  7. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "Reflections on Reflections, the Present and the Past". New York Times, 21 November 2005.
  8. ^ Bernard Holland, "Works That Boldly Position Words at the Center of Power" (St. Louis Symphony Performs Choral Works). New York Times, 3 April 2006.
  9. ^ Bernard Holland, "Tick, Tock, or Maybe Tock, Tick". New York Times, 2 April 2007.
  10. ^ Cheryl Wittenauer, "Music director Robertson hits the right notes in St. Louis". Associated Press, May 2006.
  11. ^ Geoffrey Norris, 'I'm here to raise the standard'. Telegraph, 2 February 2005.
  12. ^ Mark Swed, "Urbane Renewal". Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2005 (original LA Times link no longer accessible on line; this link is through the Symphony's web page).
  13. ^ John von Rhein, "Robertson tapped into spirit of St. Louis". Chicago Tribune, 17 September 2006.
  14. ^ Fred Kirshnit, "Good Raw Material Results in a Mess". New York Sun, 25 January 2007.
  15. ^ George Loomis, "An Answer to the Conductor Crisis". New York Sun, 30 March 2007.
  16. ^ Anthony Tommasini, "Conductor Makes the Old New and the New Newer". New York Times, 27 November 2004.
  17. ^ Jeannette Batz Cooperman, "Brilliant Overtures." St. Louis Magazine, September 2005.

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Peter Eötvös		 Music Director, Ensemble InterContemporain
1992–1999		 Succeeded by
Jonathan Nott
Preceded by
Emmanuel Krivine		 Music Director, Orchestre National de Lyon
2000–2004		 Succeeded by
Jun Märkl
Preceded by
Hans Vonk		 Music Director, St Louis Symphony Orchestra
2005–		 Succeeded by
incumbent
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